Waking Dreams
by Gemini-2006
Summary: When the Veil comes down, the gods of old come pouring through. The stories Lavellan was told as a child were terrible lie's and now she see's it first hand. In the chaos of the first battle she is taken as a prisoner of war. Eventually she learns that not everything is as black and white as either side makes it seem. Rated M for future Chapters.
1. Prologue

Some of the blame could irrefutably be placed on her for the horrible state of the world. She'd sworn to herself that she would stop him from sundering the veil, had actually believed that she could. In the end it was not some great disaster that had spilled out from behind that protective blanket, but several beings of great power that had been stewing in their resentment for the better part of six millennia

Those ages spent beyond the veil, trapped together with the spirits had allowed their rancor to grow into something terrible. They stoked the fires of vengeance with dreams of what they'd do to the dread wolf once they were out, once that barrier that kept them at bay had fallen and they were once again free to walk the mundane world.

There had been too many, too much all at once. When the veil came down, Solas had his army but he was not prepared for Elgar'nan's wrath that was accompanied with the sudden influx of spirits and demons. Hot and burning white, the scar that was left on the battlefield from all Fathers fury would never heal, the bodies caught in the wake now seared into the earth as permanent memorials.

And those dalish who wore the vallaslin, after that first blow she remembered how the dalish who still wore the slave markings could not ignore the pull of the gods will. The call to battle that pitted them against their own kind.

Those who had followed the dread wolf had to fight their brother and sisters, their mothers and father, because those markings were poppets strings and they could not ignore the Evanuris commands.

The Inquisition was gone, as far as the Chantry was concerned. The small military force she'd kept hidden at Skyhold had joined Orlais's forces but she could do nothing but watch as they too just became casualties of a war that could have been prevented, if she had not thought that she could save Solas.

She'd looked to the sky and witnessed them, beautiful and terrible and splendid. With the veil gone, their ragged clothing turned into shimmering cloaks and armor made of metal she had never seen before. They flung foreign and forgotten magic into Templars who had no working knowledge of how to counter it. Instinct alone saved them. Ghilan'nain who'd she always thought of as gentle and good sent hordes of savage beast into soldier's formations, scattering them. Andruil mad with bloodlust rained magic arrows down on her men.

She remembered the blood and the carnage, stumbling through the bodies to get to Solas's side. He stood atop a small rise striking down corpses as they rose from the ground, having fallen as allies. As he fought he couldn't see beyond the ever-growing number of them, he couldn't see that hooded figure making its way towards him.

There was no elven prayer to the gods she would speak as she knotted Andruil's enchanted bow, her prosthetic hand gripping tightly as she pulled it taunt.

Her words were a whisper the sounds of battle too loud for her to even hear the sound of her voice, but she saw Solas's head incline towards her and for a moment they locked eyes across the battle field.

She loosed the arrow, magic lightening crackling around the tip as it flew through the air. When it hit the figures barrier there was an explosion that radiated outwards, tossing dead bodies and her into the air. She could distantly hear her name being shouted behind the ringing in her ears. When the world stopped spinning, above her stood the hooded figure eye's gleaming in the shadows of its cowl.

Mere moments to roll away and to her feet as the end of a staff came down into the ground where her head once was. Disoriented and with her bow lost somewhere amidst the bodies, her only weapons was the dagger at her hip. Could she take on a would-be god with that alone? She would surely try.

"Tel'Dera ash" A shout came from behind them. Solas was there long strides bringing him to her and the figure before her. Her attention had gone to him for mere seconds and the man in the dark cloak, that she could know tell were made from speckled black feathers, had grabbed her, her wrist squeeze tightly in one large hand and bent behind her back uncomfortably. He kicked at the back of her legs hard and she buckled to her knee's.

A painful jerk to her arms and she let out a sharp growly yell.

" I said, do not touch her" The tremor of rage in his voice forced Lavellan to look at him. She'd never seen such fury on his features before, and it made her afraid, but glad that it was directed at the man behind her.

"You have lost Fen'Harel…you have lost and all you worry about is this shemlan…" He jerked her arms again this time pulling her upward til only her toes brushed the ground, the straining of her muscles as gravity tried to pull her down made her whole body ache.

"We have lost nothing Falon'din, there was always a possibility that you kept your strength beyond the veil…let her go and we can settle this ourselves" Solas eyes had taken on a glow, his had strumming with the green glow of the anchor. Behind her She could feel the apprehension of Falon'din. The powers that Solas displayed had frightened him.

"You have Mythal's essence?" A statement more then a question

"Yes"

"Keep it…it will not help you Dread Wolf, there are many of us…and the shemlan still wear our marks.." She dangled in his hands almost forgotten. But with the mention of the elf's his attentions fell to her. A considerate expression crossed his face and her blood ran cold. She could feel him tugging at the tendrils of the fade carefully, testing it, and coiling it around himself and her.

"Let her go Falon" Solas took a step towards them staff raised to attack.

"I think not." It happened so fast, in the blink of an eye all she had been swallowed by darkness, falling into it, the echo of her name ringing in her ears.


	2. Chapter 1

"(It is all gone)" A voice feminine and light coasted her from her sleep in the lilting sound of ancient elven, foreign to her ears but slightly familiar. They were the first words that she could hear, incomprehensible as they were, beyond the darkness that blanketed her mind. Trying to discern how much time had past since she was last awake left Lavellan in confusion. She could only recall the battle in The Exalted Plain's where Solas had torn down the veil, she remembered the arrow, Solas anger and then…

Falon'din had taken her.

"(It's not all gone, even when being cut off from the magic it can not all be gone…what of the pathway's, the Eluvian's)" The voice was male, not her captors, lighter, not as deep but with the same speech pattern. Hearing it made her struggle more to awaken, She needed to get up, and she needed to fight. Testing her arms she found them bound tight, but not her legs. She dared not open her eyes, hoping that they would pay no attention to her if she continued to feign unconscious

There was a shift in the air and the tingling of familiar magic rippled over her skin as who she only assume as her kidnapper stepped past her and towards the undetermined number of other .

"(All locked)"

"(The Library, the Crossroads…he has locked us out of our homes, out of our place of power…how dare he)"

"(Andruil please…we are free finally, the veil is gone the magic is back…. We can start over)" Lavellan opened her eyes only slightly. Trying to make out the features of the Evanuris before her behind the haze of her eyelashes was hard, but she could see the figures. The one who spoke a woman with long thick hair went and wrapped her arms around another woman.

"(No Ghilan)" Andruil tore away from Ghilan'nain hands that sought to comfort her.

"(Fen'Harel must answer with blood, his followers and he! We cannot return to what we were until the dread wolf is dead and all reminisces of his rebellion are crushed)" Her anger was palpable, and even though She spoke in words she did not know Lavellan recognized a few words, one in particular got her heart racing. Of course Solas would be the first they would seek retribution on, But the short encounter Falon'din had with him seemed that at this point Solas was someone at least alone they feared.

The "they" were four, four of the tallest elves she'd seen outside of Abelas and the other Sentinels. But four was such a small number, shouldn't there be more? She had names for only three, and several Evanuris were missing from the group.

The lack of guidance was a sign that the one who had scorched the earth, Elgar'nan was not among them, all Dalish knew that he was the greatest amongst the gods, the All-Father. She doubted anyone could overlook his presence.

"(Andruil calm yourself, we cannot afford to attract to much attention even here)" Falon'din's voice was not close,but she dared not turn her head to see just how far he was from far. Either way they were all so consumed with each other that Lavellan felt safe enough to begin moving her wrist slowly back and forth, losing the bounds even as they chafe and rubbed her flesh raw on the one wrist, the prosthetic applying a painful pressure as it pressed into her skin.

Feeling bold, Lavellan let her eyes open to get bearings of her surrounding. Having been the Inquisitor had afford her a luxury of travel and even before that she had loved to scout and memorize the lands her clan passed through

The smell alone should have told her where she was, still in the exalted plains, specifically in the Crow Fen's of Ghilan'nain's grove. The slight sulfur smell that the scattered hot springs gave off and the marshy Gurgut stench were all to familiar. She knew short routes through the stone structures, little hiding holes where she'd found forgotten campsites. If she surprised them she could get away.

These elves were not gods. Lavellan had to keep telling herself that they could be killed; they could be stopped, just like Corypheus. But when she fought him she had the anchor, two good arms, and the inquisition. The thought made her heart sink. She hoped that everyone had survived the veil opening. They would need the Templar's and Mage's more then ever now with the spirits loose, The elves around the world would be coming into magic they never knew they possessed. Poor Sera…

No, She had to think about herself now, escape and get to Solas.

"(She would know the password)" Lavellan's body stilled as someone advanced towards her. She'd been so caught up in her thoughts of escape that she didn't keep her full attention on them. As the man who spoke reached down to grab her arm she felt the rope give a little. It was now or never.

The muscles in her arms tensed and in one forceful jerk she tore the bindings loose. The two of them were eye level, green and bright lavender. The look of surprise on his beautiful face was priceless and Lavellan took that moment to slam her forehead into it.

He wheeled back clutching at his face, blood streaming through his fingers. No time to waste. The carving knife in her belt made quick work of the rope at her ankles and she was up and sprinting towards a large boulder. The sounds of footsteps could be heard behind her, but Lavellan dared not turn to look.

She rounded the boulder, out of sight of whichever Evanuris was chasing her but smacked face first into Falon'din.

With the carving knife her only weapon she slashed at him in frenzied arches. Up, down, jab's and stabs. Each quick movement he evaded with ease like he was made out of some liquid material. She tried to cloak herself in shadows and feign a dash one way, but when she rounded another outlay of stones he was there waiting.

She realized to late that he hadnt struck back at her, but was waiting patiently as her strenuous actions began to grow sluggish and slow. Breathing heavily, small knife still clutched in her palm, Lavellan realized that she must have hit him at some point because there was a steady stream of blood that trickled from his nostril to his chin.

He stood there watching her, pale eyes narrowed in disdain.

"Ne halam?" He asked as if the whole escape attempt was a futile waste of time. Lavellan's drive to escape was not dead, no matter how tired she was. An angry yell escaped her as her dwarven made prosthetic connected with his jaw. His face jerked to the side and if looks could kill, he would have struck her down in cold fire.

" .Finished" His voice was steady, but behind it was a threat. If she hit him again he would kill her. She straightened herself, but she met his golden gaze with a look of defiance. Gripping the back of her neck in a vice tight hold, he guided her back to the others.

Seeing the group of them clearly, they were all very beautiful, as she would expect of creatures that would call themselves gods. The Evanuris looked young, maybe a decade or two older then she. They all were dressed in magic, the magic that she could now hear in tree's and filled her blood with an anxious tingle.

Ghilan'nain was stooped on the ground next to the blond with the pretty eyes, fingers glowing as she passed them over his face. She was all browns and green's and white. Her long thick coils of hair were a pale brown that was almost the same dark shade as her skin. Her eyes were large like a does, long lashed and expressive. They were filled with a compassion that had been absent on the battlefield where her beast had killed countless men.

All of them were a good head or two taller then Lavellan, The one behind her taller then all.

"(If she was awake, you should have told us Dirthamen, these things would not happen if you just tell us what things you hear)" Ghilan'nain said as she patted the blond's cheek fondly and kissed his forehead before standing giving Lavellan a reproachful look.

"(She's just a shemlan, they have no power) " He said it as if it was just a fact, but the apprehension in his voice indicated that he wasn't so sure. He stood as well but the look he gave her was like he was looking through her, a glazed over vacant look. Then he shook out of whatever trance he was in and a haughty smile appeared on his face.

"(She thinks were all beautiful as gods, but Fen'Harel has told her we are not, and so she doesn't revere us as such)" Confusion was plain on Lavellan's face, She tried to piece together the words but then realized what had just happened when a smug look of superiority spread across his face. If Dirthamen, the keeper of secrets could read her mind, what exactly could be kept secret from him.

" (But does she know the password) " Falon'din released her and did a pose that mimicked Andruil's accompanied with a warning look when she faced him. She turned back to look at Dirthamen whose eyes once again glazed over.

Lavellan was prepared this time. She started to think about various things. She thought about her clan, thought about Skyhold and the people who had become like a second family to her. She thought about pranks with Sera, shooting arrows across the courtyard divide onto the roof, Varric's stories, the moments during the war with Corypheus when they had time to adventures. She thought about sweet cakes, and hot bathes, of things that Cole had said to her, weather or not she should cut or let her hair grow longer.

Dirthamen shook his head and came to a little queasy looking, his golden complexion turned ashen.

"(I can't, she's thinking about nonsense)" He frowned at her and she returned his haughty smirk from earlier. There was a snort of laughter from Andruil before the woman approached Lavellan in quick long strides. She grabbed Lavellan by her arms and forced her to her knee. When Lavellan started to thrash she pulled on her arm painfully.

"ma ne'suledin " She whispered as Dirthamen placed a hand on either side of her head , and then the pain started. It was like something was trying to split her skull from the inside, trying to get out. Her body strained at the intrusion and she tried to repel him but he dug his fingers into her hair and against her scalp and continued to pry. She convulsed and then went rigid as the two Evanuris violated mind. A scream of discomfort erupted from her mouth.

Dirthamen released her head and stepped back, giving her mind and body much needed relief from whatever he had just done. Dug through her head with all the delicacies of foraging Durffalo. Andruil released her as well, letting her abused body relax.

A shake of the head was all Dirthamen gave his shadow when Falon'din looked at him expectantly.

" Nothing of the password, but there is so much in her head, she could be useful against the quicklings and Fen'Harel" There was nothing to try and interpret this time, Dirthamen spoke clearly in slightly accented but almost perfect common tongue.

"Oh so you do speak the Kings tongue" Her voice was a little hoarse. Was he now speaking the language for her benefit? He'd just been inside her head, they were now so much closer then a few minutes ago. He gave her a very sympathetic look that lasted all of two seconds.

"Who is she?...who are you?" Taking Dirthamen's cue Ghilan'nain forwent the Ancient elven for the language Lavellan could understand.

"Nerys Lavellan, Hunter for Clan Lavellan" She said simply omitting any honorifics. It was who she was after all,who she had been before everything. Before the rift, before the inquisition, before Solas. It was always who she was going to be.

"Who are you to Fen'harel?" Lavellan shot a narrowed eyed look at Falon'din for the question. But the Evanuris just stared at her, He knew that she meant something to the Dread Wolf; he would not have crossed a sea of scorched bodies for any simple soldier. They both stared at each other but Lavellan looked away first, uncomfortable underneath the would be god's scrutiny.

She didn't answer the question, but that was answer enough and she appreciated Dirthamen discreetness on the matter. He would know exactly what she was to Solas, or at least what she thought she was to him.

"Tsk…this is ridiculous" Andruil said placing her hands on her hips and turning to look out on the grove. "We have to leave this place, find a base of operations, start planning for attacks…we need to make decisions now…either we take her or kill her" As little as Lavellan wanted to leave with them , She wanted to stay alive. What use could she be to Solas and the others if she were dead.

"Can't you just…." She moved her hands wildly in the air around her "Build something here now that the Veil is gone" Dirthamen looked positively scandalized by the notion, while Andruil snorted.

"It takes decades to build magically fortified structures, just because the magic and mundane world are now one does not mean that there are no laws that the magic abides by. Before we had time to interlace ever stone placed with a seal that was crafted just for the building. Years of study and research went into our homes….we can't just simply" Andruil moved her hands in mimic of Lavellan's. The dalish elf stared at them in confusion. Magic and it theories had always been a foreign aspect to her, even before the veil falling; mages were powerful people who simply pulled magic from nowhere. But now magic was everywhere, shouldn't it be easy to lift and move stones and make a defensive palace of grandiose proportion?

" What about Tarasyl'an Te'las?...it is Fen'Harel's no longer it could be safe" Dirthamen offered. Lavellan heart stilled. There were still people there, families that had nowhere else to go after the Inquisition dismantled. If the Evanuris went there and found them, what would they do. So far they'd only spared her out of her potential usefulness. She recalled the battle on the Exalted plains, how they had massacred so many people.

She couldn't stop thinking about it once she started. The scorched earth, the smell of burning bodies. She couldn't top thinking about the incomprehensible beast that tore through grown men, those same men rising up from the dead only to kill brother in arms.

Fear gripped her. Was Cassandra amongst the bodies on the field? Was Blackwall? Was Bull. She began to feel so cold and curling in on herself she formed a tight ball.

If they were dead then it was her fault, all those lives were on her hands. She could stop Solas and now she wouldn't be able to stop the Evanuris. They would enslave the Dalish, her people, and her clan. 

Somewhere in the distance there was a screech of pain. Opening her eyes that she hadn't realized had closed, she'd slumped to the ground and was looking up at Ghilan'nain , The other three beyond her vision engaged in a fight with something .

" Venavis child, your fear and despair are warping the spirits…reign in your emotions or they will continue to feed and draw from them" She demanded, gripping Lavellan's shoulder tightly. That's right! Spirits were everywhere now, not just lingering in mages dreams, Now everyone was a mage, everyone could become an abomination right. Anyone could reach out into the air and…

Lavellan placed a hand on Ghilan'nain's shoulder and the moment of contact sent the Evanuris spiraling backwards with a force that popped Lavellan's ears.

This was her chance. The other three occupied and Ghilan'nain stunned , she got to her feet and ran. Solas was still in the Exalted Plain's, she just knew it, he would not have abandoned her while he knew her to be a prisoner of the Evanuris. She ran as fast and as far as she could.


	3. Chapter 2

_Don't know where he's going,_ _  
_ _Don't know where he's been._ _  
_ _But he is restless at night,_ _  
_ _'Cause he has horrible dreams._

Chapter 2

-o-

Lavellan sputtered as she stumbled through and fell into a shallow pool of marshy water. The low hanging branches and jagged jutting rocks had all but torn her hands, arms, and legs to shreds, angry red welts rising on her cheeks and exposed skin.

Taking that small opportunity to catch her breath she ended up having to roll out of the way of a gurgut that had pounced. She must have looked like a perfect opportunity for midday meal. She quickly and quietly slipped away as several other giant reptiles came to inspect what the other had caught, being surrounded by the stupid things was not something she needed at the moment.

Despite her exhaustion and her now slightly throbbing right hand, her feet would not let her stop. If she stopped for even a moment, they would catch up. Each corner she rounded she already half expected to see Falon'din waiting there for her with ropes or chains. She counted her blessings that he hadn't caught her yet. But with that strange ability he had to travel through the very air he could appear when she least expected him.

Each Evanuris seemed to have a skill the others could not mimic. If they could all do what Falon'din did, she would have gotten as far as she had. And Falon'din ability didn't seem to span that far as far as she knew. Dirthamen's ablity of mind reading would also have its flaws, she just needed to figure them out.

With a new burst of energy Lavellan sprinted to the cover of another cluster of rocky outcrops and skidded to a halt, her breath coming labored now that she allowed herself to catch it. She had time now to think, assess her own situation and what state at least her environment was in.

Spirits, those floating orange and green things that she'd seen in places where the veil had been weak, they were everywhere now. Most ignored her; they seemed just as confused as she was. Others moved with a clear purpose, gathered around fellow spirits who seemed to be struggling with the adjustment.

She stared at her good hand; she could still feel the magic tingling across her skin, like a hundred tiny insects. Lavellan didn't like the feeling and definitely didn't like the faint hum that she heard or how everything looked so…illuminated and glossy. While she had imagined that with the destruction of the veil the Fade would have come colliding with real world, this alternate outcome was just as distressing. There was so much magic around that it moved across the air like oil on water, filmy with a layer of iridescent shine

Sopping wet and aching, Lavellan arrived at what should have been her Inquisition campsite that connected the grove with rest of the exalted plains. Things were thrown haphazard across the mossy stones, tents coverings hanging limply from there support. There was no one there.

She should have expected it. She had thought that Cassandra and Cullen would have at least kept the posted scouts in more important regions across of southern Thedas. Either they had been swept up in the chaos of the veil opening and had left in hurry or whoever was running the operations now were consolidating the forces for more "practical" uses.

Only slightly disappointed Lavellan started to salvage whatever she could from the desecrated camp. A few ointments and salves that helped with her injuries, a potion that she immediately guzzled to began the healing for whatever wounds she couldn't see. There was a small armory chest that had been for the soldiers that were stationed in the area, but it held nothing with enchantments or additional effects that would be beneficial. Even so she gathered up a bow with a good grip and the quiver that held several arrows.

Readjusting the tension on the bow and slinging the quiver across her shoulders, Lavellan's intuitions were lacking severely.

Something connected with her side like a druffalo charge and the force sent her flying through the collided with the single standing tent, wood and fabric tangling her as they collapsed onto of her and she tried to get to her feet to face her attacker.

She'd just pulled herself free from the heavy canvas when she was lifted from the wreck by a hand securely around her throat. For someone known as the Mother of Hares, Andruil was as fierce looking as a varghest.

"Ar tu na'din seth'lin" Andruil growled, the muscles in her arms tensed and tightened as her hand tried to squeeze the air from Lavellan's lips.

"Touch Ghilian'nain again and I don't care how useful you are,I will end you myself. you get one warning shemlan "Lavellan was positive that Andruil was going kill sheer fury that emitted from her could be seen in those sharp cat like eyes.

Getting over the initial shock of being caught off guard, Lavellan was not going to simply let the huntress drag her back to the others again, broken and defeated. She had never been they type to rollover when threatened

Gripping the arm that held her aloft with both hands. Lavellan wasn't very strong on her own, but when the gears in her prosthetic began to too turn and crank , her own grip tightened and squeeze with relentless pressure. Dagna, smith and inquisition arcanist that she was had made sure that if Lavellan couldn't get a real magically infused flesh and bone limb then she'd get the next best thing.

The volcanic aurum folded into dwarven iron stained her prosthetic black, but few outside her inner circle knew that she was down one arm simply because she kept it hidden underneath a glove of dragon hide leather. It seemed that even an Evanuris couldn't withstand the strength of expert dwarven craftsmanship.

The moment Andruil realized that the hand that had grabbed her was applying pressure that threatened to break bone; she tried to counter it with magic, laying her free hand directly onto Lavellan's prosthetic.

Lightening crackled from her palm and danced across her leather-clad arm. While the magic itself did nothing to harm her, the runes and wards taking the brunt of it fizzled out. The arm began to snap and twitch, malfunctioning as the magic lightening traced along the odd mechanics inside. The hand convulsed then gripped like a vice before falling away limp.

Two sharp yells of pain could be heard as the elvhen women stumbled back from each other, both clutching broken arms, one made of metal the other flesh and bone.

Again the Huntress was surprised. Lavellan doubted any of them had had someone of lower class stand up to them with such tenacity, she liked to think that they were so used to being the biggest threat, the ones with all the power, that they couldn't fathom someone like Lavellan; a barefaced, ignorant shemlan elf , to be of any consequence with out Fen'Harel at her back.

She was the son of a bitchin Inquisitor

She didn't waste the moment gloating over Andruil's injury, again she ran, knowing without a doubt that any moment Falon'din would appear if she lingered. Her arm now was simply dead weight and her gait was awkward accompanied with her exhaustion. As it hung at her side ,Lavellan was half a mind to rip it off and use it as a bludgeoning weapon since the bow she'd acquired was useless without another hand.

She had to chuckle at the image, at least she found humor in something.

Smoke and burning was all she could smell once she escaped the cleared passageway that led into the grove. While the plains always smelt somewhat of burning wood from the ramparts, this time it was accompanied by the stench of burning flesh. Had that initial fight been so near or did the smell merely travel?

Lavellan began to follow the smell hoping it would lead her to fields where The first of them had descended upon them. Out in the open it would now be easier to avoid the Evanuris, She knew the field better then they did but that was only assuming that Dirthamen's power of mind reading worked at proximity.

Clambering through dilapidated houses and up stone hills with one hand, Lavellan wished she had her mount with her. The hart had been a gift from her clan and was so sure footed and quick, she'd never ridden another mount after him, he'd let her guide him down steep cliff's and into battle and had never once faltered.

Thinking about the hart made her think about skyhold. With the inquisition disbanded there weren't many people who had remained. She'd entertained the idea of leaving and going to Wycome were clan Lavellan had established a considerable influence, but she had been gone to long,to many things had changed her and she would not make a good hunter with only one arm.

So she'd stayed at Skyhold, it was her home now after all. Her inner circle had dispersed like the wind. Each pulled now to their own causes and duties. Cassandra and Cullen had pledged their services to Divine Victoria, taking with them those soldier who still wanted to fight. She remembered the look on poor Josephine's face when she'd told them that she would not be joining them. She was heartbroken after Solas's reveal of his intentions and she needed time to herself. They reluctantly left her alone in the lonely stonewalls of Skyhold.

She hadn't been completely alone. Dagna and Sera had stayed. It was their home now too of course. And Loyalty had kept those few elven scouts and soldiers that didn't trust the chantry to keep them safe. There were also mages, human and non-human that stayed in the repurposed tower. Fiona had actually been the one seeing to Skyhold's adjustments while Lavellan's depression kept her bed ridden, during the disbanding.

She knew that whatever was happening at Skyhold now, Fiona would know what to do, she would keep them safe.

"Andaran atish'an lethallan" the voice was recognizable along with the face. Keeper Hawen accompanied by five of his clan hunters was standing there, sack in hand. Relief engulfed Lavellan so strongly that tears began to fall down her cheeks.

" ma emma eth haren" The sight of someone who was not trying to kill her was overwhelming and she threw her good arm around him in a hug. The old elf took it graciously and stroked her dark hair fondly.

"Inquisitor!" One of the Hunters exclaimed stepping forward as she went limp, fatigue finally getting the better of her. They lowered her gently to the ground as the Keeper kept her from fully collapsing.

"I had no doubt that you would be there when the sky opened up again….There are many dead, but we have been assisting those that survived but with so many injured we may not be able to help them all" He informed her. The thought that there were at least still people alive gave her hope.

"Were any of my companions there…the ones who traveled with me when I came to see you" She let the hunter sling her broken arm and took a potion when it was given to her. Before she knew it they'd walked a halla over, harnessed to it was a litter that dragged along the ground.

"Here rest and we will talk when we have returned to camp, We can not stay here overlong, to many of the dead turn to demons now" Hawen stood looking around cautiously while the hunter treated her like a fragile thing, lifting her and securing her to the makeshift stretcher.

Lavellan had intended to speak with Hawen during the walk across the plains, but exhaustion had taken her and she'd fallen into a dreamless sleep before she knew it.

She awoke with a start and she could see in the sky thousands of stars. She'd slept through the day, hours that she could have used to find Solas or the others. A clans woman walked by arms full of bloodied bandages, she herself looked like she could use the rest that had been provided to Lavellan.

"Wha…" Lavellan's throat was dry and she coughed once and then began to hack violently. The woman with her arm full of soiled linens quickly dropped them and came to her, taking a ladle from behind her and presenting it to Lavellan's lips.

She drank greedily and once her throat didn't feel like sandpaper She attempted her words again.

"What hour is it?" She asked while the Elven woman placed a hand on her forehead and then her neck.

" We are thirty into the hour of the owl, did you wish to speak to Keeper Hawen now that you are awake" Lavellan remembered the woman's face now, Master Taniel was the clan's crafter. Lavellan's whole body was stiff, she needed to stand and stretch.

"I can find him, go back to the wounded" She said as she stood, left arm still in its sling. Master Taniel obeyed, taking her bundle and vanishing further into the camp.

They'd moved the aravel's into the wooded area's, using the large tree's as cover and shade. Strings of hanging lights between the tree's kept the encampment lit as they clan's folk, young and old tended to the survivors of the battle. Groans of pain and uncontrolled wailing were amongst the things that Lavellan could hear as she walked pass the still bodies of men and women, human, elves and dwarf's alike.

She saw people she recognized, people who she'd seen in Solas's ranks, some men and women wore the orlesian army heraldry possibly those who had joined from the ramparts. She saw burnings so bad that she knew they wouldn't last the night.

But it wasn't these people she was looking for. She kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the Chargers, any word of a large qunari or a Tevinter mage, a man with a griffin shield. Cassandra, Vivienne, were in Val'Royuex, and Varric in Kirkwall last time she heard but with something this big, she doubted they would have sat on their hands.

Her eyes franticly scanned over cots and panic began to settle in her gut. What if they were among the ones that were scorched into the ground, unrecognizable from the severity of their burns.

On the verge of a break down, she felt a hand clasp her shoulder and turned teary eyes to Cole's concerned expression.

"Oh thank the creators" She said out of habit, holding his hands tight. He was real.

"What are you doing here? Where's Maryden?" She asked, Cole seemed to be so confused, eyes dancing nervously.

"Skyhold, when the Veil came down, Skyhold was the safest place I could think of, its to clear, the voices...to much. To much pain, to much fear." He said placing his other hand on her opposite shoulder to hold her in place, his eyes falling to her arm in the sling. She shook her head and smiled.

"I'm okay, I'll have Dagna look at it when we get back to Skyhold"

"The stars fell, bright and burning and the sun came down with them, he doesn't know that the stars slew the moon, that the moon can never die, she's waiting and he's waiting but there can be no justice without truth" Lavellan brushed strands of Coles shaggy blonde from his face.

"He's here, he's killed so many, he doesn't know the truth but that isn't an excuse" Cole whispered and let her go

"Lethallan your are looking better. The healers could do nothing for your…ahem. It is a remarkable prosthetic, if it had been ironbark Taniel could have done something for it." Hawen said approaching. She turned to face him and quickly turned back when she felt Cole's presence slip away, most likely going to help those that most needed it.

"Thank you haren you've done so much for me already "Hawen seemed just and haggard and tired as the others that mulled around the camp. She felt such pride in them, They could have simply minded their own business and left those soldiers to the elements. But they had gone out of their way and braved the spirits to help people who they owed nothing.

"I am so grateful to your Clan Keeper Hawen, not many dalish would have done this for city elves let alone humans" He guided her away from the makeshift infirmary and deeper to a cluster of aravels where the children and elderly of the clan slept.

"It is a testament to your influence, when you gave us the scrolls that depicted the true events that led to the exalted march on the dales, We agreed that it was our isolation that was our ultimate undoing…" They moved passed the aravels and deeper into the forest where the hanging lanterns glow could not reach. It took Lavellan a moment to realized that The Keeper was leading her towards the Var Bellanaris.

The mass gravesite had been much revered and untouched even by the orlesian that now claimed the Plains as their land. The Dalish still used the site to bury their dead , but there were no late night workers at this hour, only the clans first stooping by a still figure , the only light a small torch of veil fire.

"We found him among the dying" Hawen stated as they neared the man on the ground. Lavellan could feel the rage pool into her chest as she looked at the Evanuris. He stared back, eyes half lidded, breath labored.

"He says his name is.."

"Elgar'nan" Lavellan nodded. Nether the Keeper or his first seemed surprise at her knowing, or at the fact that the large man had claimed to be a revered Creator.

"He's the one who did that to those men, he burned my men alive, he…"Lavellan took a threatening step forward but the First stood staff at the ready. Hawen placed a calming hand on Lavellans shoulder and put the other to calm the anxious first.

"Yes…he has confessed to the destruction, he is slipping into uthenera and has bid us make an account while he is still awake" Lavellan stared. Maybe it was some weird intuition, but when she met Elgar'nan's eyes she knew that he was not going into Uthenera. He knew it as well, thats why he had them account his words. He was entering a long sleep he would never wake up from.

"He asked us to bring you here" Hawen stated much to her shock. Did Elgar'nan know who she was? How could he, she had been just one more face among the sea of soldiers, The Keeper took her hand and guided her slowly to kneel by the Evanuris side. Close up the resemblance between he and Dirthamen were uncanny. The eyes and chin were the exact same, but while Dirthamen had ahead of flaxen waves, Elgar'nan was clean shaven, like Solas.

" You are a agent of Fen'harel? you carried his anchor, nothing that powerful goes away without leaving a stain ." There was a dry laugh.

"What should I address you as dalen?" His body was stiff as a board, it was strange to look down at such a powerful being and know that he was so vulnerable.

"Nerys " He nodded And gave a sigh as if he were about to bare his soul to her. It was a little sad, Did he think that if he went to the beyond with a clear conscious that he would be better off. She was so very angry with him, this man who she had grown up thinking of as a avenging father. The creator who her clan paid homage to. He was a lie made flesh and she could do nothing to a dying man, couldn't voice her disappointment.

"Whatever he says, they are all lies, believe not a word he says, Fen'Harel tricked us into elevating him, Mythal my beloved could not have known that he would use the power she had given him to destroy her…" He seemed so sad, and for a moment Lavellan's heart broke for him. Had he sat in the fade that long thinking that Solas had betrayed his trust, had murdered the woman that he loved and then trapped them away.

"No…no that's not true, It wasn't Solas" She said in urgency. Those half-lidded lavender eyes turned to regard her.

"…Solas was trying to avenge her, trying to save the people from you and the others, from what you were doing to them, to us" No She would not feel sorry for this man, not while so many people lay dying because of him. She turned to look up at Hawen's First who was scribbling hastily in a bound journal.

"Do you believe him, even knowing that he has lied to you, used you, maimed you" He asked his words cutting deep, resurfacing doubts that she'd experienced since the revelation. But those doubts had since been put to bed and she trusted that Solas had done all he had done for a good cause. He had saved her, He had not sent her to the Conclave, had not killed Justinia , what good would have telling her that he was Fen'harel done when she had still been a prejudice and naïve child.

And while he was not perfect, had had many chances to tell her the truth after her growth, she believed that he only sought to do good, and non of the things he'd done were out of malice.

"I do" She declared and Elgar'nan sighed heavily again in relief.

"That brings me peace at least, The others blamed Fen'harel for her death, no one doubted for a moment…I knew all those millennia ago that he was a scapegoat. but it festered and became a focus when he trapped us. I was convince he had killed her" Creators be damned, this man had been so misguided. She wondered silently what kind of relationship he and Solas had in the past. He seemed to want to believe in the latters innocence, but vengeance didn't allow him to.

"Tell him that I'm sorry and that I too saw in him what Mythal saw " He had taken her hand and folded something into her palm as his eyes drifted closed finally. The first stopped scribbling and put the journal aside. With a gentle wave of his staff he lifted the still body of the Evanuris and walked it into Unadin Grotto.

As the stone door sealed behind them, Keeper Hawen retrieved the small book that had been placed on a stone. He studied the cover of the book with a look of quiet contemplation, while Lavellan was full of confused anger, unfolding the parchment that he had handed to her.

"I never imagined that the creators would be…."

"Mortal?" She offered staring down at the words scrolled onto the paper that made no sense to her. Whatever it was it was not meant for prying eyes.

"Yes I suppose that is the only word for it" There was disappointment in his posture. She could relate.

"They aren't like you and me Hawen, they are dangerous and powerful, mortal they may be but they are not people" Lavellan didn't even believe her own words. She wanted to think that they were void of morality but after seeing those emotions chase through the All-Father's face, She knew that they were just as emotional and suffered loss as well as any other. Solas had proven that to her , he suffered guilt for his actions for so long. But she thought back to Corypheus, he'd been evil that was certain. He would have enslaved the world if he had reached godhood. But who had he been before the blight had taken him. Peoples decisions transformed them and a part of her feared that Solas might suffer a fate similar, become the thing he hated.

"He wanted his story to be told" She could hear the hesitance in Hawen's voice. Lavellan wondered if the Keeper could stomach the task. Correcting thousands of years worth of lies. She would have assured him that she would be there to help lessen the burden, that there were already elvhen who knew of the lies.

She didn't a chances because a scream of terror ripped through the silent night, and before Lavellan could stop herself she found herself racing back towards the aravels, Hawen close at her heels.

The scene was gruesome, Three …four soldiers who had been laying in cots were spewing blood on to the grass, a hunter standing over a barefaced elf with a dagger coated in blood. He looked shocked and afraid, but that fear did not stop him from running the blade across the poor boys throat.

"Stop, Aaren what are you doing" The Keeper called , Lavellan had to stop him from going to the young hunter, afraid that he would be his next victim.

"Keeper I…I cant stop…help" His pleas were wrecked by sobs at his inability to control his actions. It took a moment to realize that the vallaslin that the hunter wore were that of those who were pledged to Andruil.

" I know you're here , hiding amongst these false elvhen, come out now and I wont make the boy slit his own throat" Andruil's voice was bordering on psychotic. Though alone she knew that there were at least three others who wore Andruil vallaslin, including the Elder beside her. The power was cheap, she couldn't justify running when the lives of these people would be at stake if she did. She could not fight not with her broken arm, but giving in seemed like the worse thing she could possibly do. Every bone in her body screamed for her to run, but she couldn't, not and be able to sleep at night.

"Fenedhis" She swore and stepped forward so that Andruil's wild eyes would focus on her instead of the young hunter covered in blood.

"Caring for the lower beings is weak, If they were not here to be collateral you could have fled" Andruil's face was to sharp, Sharp eyes, sharp cheeks, sharp chin and ear. Angles and intimidating height that looked down at her with so much superiority.

"If I'm weak then what does that make you…"Lavellan snarked. How could Andruil be so harsh to those less powerful when Ghilan'nain had been one such person as the stories told? Andruil got the implication and the look she gave told Lavellan that that bit information had been true and with a swift strong blow to the temple, knocked Lavellan clean off her feet in her burst of anger.


	4. Chapter 3

_Borders and horizon lines  
_ _We're alone but side by side  
_ _We're yet to dream we're yet to dream  
_ _Nothing here is what it seems_

Chapter 3

-o-

She dreamt of Halamshiral. The Winter Palace lit up against the backdrop of those countless stars she'd seen while she laid under the canopy of the Exalted Plains. There was somewhere she needed to be. And while she couldn't create a clear thought as to where that exactly was, her legs guided her out of instinct.

Her steps determined, she passed glancing eyes and hidden faces , giggles made behind elaborate fan's. Through the Hall of Heroes whose statues should have seemed recognizable, but turned unfamiliar and odd in passing, and into the guest wing where the tapestries and adornments were not the lavish orlesian decor but something almost alien to her eyes.

Replacing the gold filigree, winged cherubs and beautiful maiden's laden in roses, were intricate knots in wood so polished they could have been embedded with gems, opalescent and swirling up and down in a twisting dance. The archways were tall and curved and layered in fashions that were familiar to Lavellan but not in this particular place.

There were vines of ivy and other twisting growth that climbed the walls into the hall, hanging from the ceiling like emerald curtains, a thing no self respecting Orlesian would let happen when entertaining was not the Winter Palace she remembered. Slowly Lavellan began to realize that the people around her wore no mask as she previously had thought, infact hardly any were human.

They were elves, all wearing heavily intricate vallaslin, among them humans that stood among the throng of elves,who to her horror and surprise also had the snaking lines of the creators tattooed onto their faces.

Her body filled with a sudden urgency as she scanned the hall for the man she came looking for. She'd thought she would find him at the window like she had during the ball, gazing into the room with that air of separation and intrigue.

He wasn't there of course, not even a memory of him, But she knew that in her dream's he was never far away. Leaning against the windowsill , Lavellan placed both her hands at the ends and pushed her will into it, reaching out through that shared memory. For a moment there was silence and she began to believe that he would not come, but then she felt the air shift behind her and she knew he'd heeded her call.

"Vhenan." Though his words were soft, they lacked the concern she wanted to hear. She turned to face him and she saw that haughty prideful look that she'd had a glimpse of in the crossroads all those years ago.

"Solas" She let her voice fill with that longing that she'd felt since the day he'd walked through the Eluvian. His expression faltered a bit and then completely, his posture easing as she embraced him and he her.

"Vhenan, you should not have come here" He whispered softly into the shell of her ear, his hold tightening before he released her.

"Solas, I need.." She started but he shook his head.

"I can not help you now emma'lath, even here it is a risk"

"I dont understand…"

" These things are not as you remember them ,correct" He let his hands fall away from her, and Lavellan was sorry for the loss even if it were just in the fade.

"No they're not,it's as if it were in a parallel world" She reached out to touch a flower on one of the vines and it unfurled , releasing a strong perfume that she recognized from no flora she knew.

"It is the Evanuris,their magic has trapped you in your own mind,a technique used to syphon information without the victim knowing" Lavellan frowned. she couldn't understand out of all the memories to trap her in, why would the Evanuris pick this . That night had been filled with nothing but tiresome politics and running through the huge palace and eavesdropping and fighting ridiculously dressed grand duchess's. They could have chosen a memory of her clan or of skyhold.

She thought of the first thing she'd done when she realized where she was. That night had not just been about orlesian politics. It had been the first night that she and Solas….

"There looking for you!" She nearly shoved him away as if he were had known she'd call out to him the moment she could and she'd not thought about the consciences to contacting Solas.

"Be calm vhenan, they can not find me unless I tell you where I am " It seemed like that last part hurt for him to say, but Lavellan understood as much as she didn't want to admit it. She knew that while Solas could handle a single of the Evanuris, joined by the other three he would need more than just the power that he had.

"I don't need to know then...I won't be a liability to you" She could be brave for him, she could be his spy if need be, she'd endure their tortures.

"You shame me" He held her face and bent to brush his lips softly against hers in a gesture that was not quite a kiss, but sent her heart fluttering in her chest nonetheless.

"If I could pull you through the fade from them to my side I would…" His words struck her and she regained enough of herself to recall the folded parchment that Elgar'nan had given she could recall the curving and fluid characters of the strange ancient elven, so old that none besides those who had lived in the time could still remember their was a small hope in her that held onto the possibility of learning the language, of being able to read and write in her ancestral tongue.

"Elgar'nan is dead" She told him as she leaned into him, hiding her face in her had gone still at her words. There were so many mixed emotions about her meeting the Creator and she did not know which of those would be appropriate to show Solas. Would he grieve the man, or would he be relieved. From Elgar'nan's words they had ended on bad terms, but had seemed close before that.

"He gave me a message that I can't read, I think it might be meant for you" Solas relaxed and stroked her hair pressing her face just a little more snuggling into his chest as if he too did not want her to see his expression.

"It is a sad day indeed then" There was something in his tone that made her pull away to search his grey eyes .Did he truly feel the lost of Elgar'nan, Lavellan wished she knew the history, wished she wasn't just getting glimpses and pieces of the whole story.

"Solas…" She started but was silenced by another kiss, this one heavy and his hands down the length of her arm,he held her fingers slightly as he pulled away.

"Vehnan when the time is right, I will come for you" He let her go completely then and turned his back on her.

"Elgar'nan's message!?" He needed to have it, but there was no way she could recall all of those strange letters enough so to produce a cohesive idea of it in the fade. Solas however did not seem to concerned with it.

"When we are not being watched" His tone was steady but Lavellan noticed that the foreign elvhen participants of her memories had all been paying too close attention to the eyes focused directly on herself, now alone, Solas having vanished was enough to jolt her awake from the magic induced dream.

She awoke, vision bobbing up and down, the road passing underneath her at a quickened gait. She was tied down, securely and tightly. Lavellan knew the feel and smell of halla as well as any other dalish, but never had she ridden one where she'd been slung across it like a sack. The position making her stomach churn in sickness.

Lifting her head she locked eyes with Dirthamen and she knew he'd been the one who had been charged with constructing her dream couldn't hide his discomfort behind that handsome indifferent mask.

"enjoyed the show?" Her quip was filled with venom, the glare she gave him with hatred. The Evanuris had the decency to look embarrassed, lavender eyes looking away from her for a moment. It was small gestures like those that reminded Lavellan that they were not untouchable gods.

"I learned nothing that we had not already known" He was haughty but there was a hesitation behind that arrogance as if the intrusion on her mind had made him uncomfortable. The irony of it did not pass Lavellan by, he must know just how violated she felt.

"bully for you" The Halla moved into a leaping gait to avoid obstacles on her path and Lavellan bounced along on her back, knocking the wind from chest and out her mouth in a gasp .She closed her eyes tight for a moment, trying to hold back from embarrassing herself in front of this person, as her head throbbed and her stomach flipped

"It isn't the Hallah shemlan, Andruil struck you heavily, Ghilan'nain fears you may have swelling in your skull" He kept up with the halla with as much ease as an adult would keep stride with a child

"that's just great" She groaned wanting to reach and touch the swollen knot she felt on the side of her head but the restraints had been done secularly this time and her damaged hand was immobile. The hallah seemed to read her and slowed a little,her trot no longer jostling Lavellan.

"what happened to the others? Did you hurt them" Lavellan gulped, the emotion in her voice breaking as her head spun shut her eyes trying to stop the moving scenery from making her more nauseous.

"That group of false Elvhen that aided the humans? We left them be but what Andruil did was barbaric,those who wear our vallaslins are our charges, to bend his will like she did it was discourteous"

"Discourteous!?" She couldn't believe he'd used such a ineffective word.

"She had him kill those unarmed people, people who they had worked hard to save, he had no control! how can the people have faith in their gods when those gods are so cruel" Lavellan was livid,but riding along strewn across the back of the halla took the bite from her words.

"the shemlan elves wear the blood writing without understand them, it is not any fault of ours if the geas they place themselves under is not what they thought it would be" He didn't seem moved by her anger. It always amazed her how the ancient elves disregarded those of this time so easily. Abelas and his fellow sentinels, even Solas had not seen them as Elvhen.

" The blood marks are a contract, even your lack of vallaslin marks you as Fen'harel's agent, even without my knowledge of your relationship"

"I am no more his agent then you are Falon'din's" She snapped.

"You are either his equal or his disciple, his servant for no shemlan can be the equal of an Evanuris" He looked so offended. It seemed it took little to offend Dirthamen, he was so sure of his place, the place of the Evanuris that he could not fathom Lavellan claiming to be their equal.

" He calls me ma'vahenan. the dread wolf would not call an inferior such"

"The fact that you are his lover proves nothing, you were are an instrument just as any other creature that walks beside another of greater power? the bond I and Falon'din share is beyond that, the Evanuris are the smiths, not the tools"

She fell silent, her head throbbing to hard to argue with someone who was so sure in his creatures lived hundreds of thousands of years ago, when their cities had been built in the sky and through magic, they knew without a doubt who they were and elves like her were still digging through ruins to find themselves. He'd brought up past insecurities that she'd thought she'd conquered, but they had only been buried just below the surface.

They traveled in relative silence after that. Dirthamen stopping only to inspect a plant or gaze at a ruin in a sort of dazed he remembering when the ruin had been something else? could he see grand structures instead of delapidate stone? She could hear Ghilan'nain arguing in their ancient tongue with Andruil possibly about which path they should be taking, dithering a few times when the road forked. At a point they'd come to a full stop about it.

"Can I be sat down, i feel ill" She asked Dirthamen who eyed her cautiously but then relented to her request lifting her smaller frame effortlessly from the hallah and sitting her down on the ground.

"I admit your are most resilient for a quickling" He crouched balancing on the balls of his feet in front of her, Strange eyes inspecting her closing like one would do a strange insect or tiny animal.

"Meet many before the fall did you?" She said closing her eyes again, she hoped that she wasn't suffering this long because of a concussion.

"I did not but the disciples told me of them, I was not allowed outside once my father ascended" He let his fingers touch the knot on her head lightly and she winched a little at the was the first he'd spoke of Elgar'nan to her. She remembered realizing how much they looked alike almost like carbon copies. It was evident that though they did not age Elgar'nan seemed so much older than his son.

"Elgar'nan right! your father, and Mythal is your mother" She thought through the headache that began to fade as Dirthaman let his magic slip across his scalp, a relieved sigh escaped her lips and she leaned into his hand absently.

"No"He slowly removed his hand and watched her again, Her head had stopped throbbing, but whatever magic he'd used to heal her tingled across her skin, causing gooseflesh, it wasn't painful but it was uncomfortable. This hypersensitivity to magic was not something she'd expected to suffer through when the veil came down. With the relief from the headache Lavellan wanted to ask him to elaborate on his simple answer, but her inquiry would have to wait as Ghilan'nain approached,the fabric of her white cloak looking just a pristine as it had when Lavellan first saw them. Infact none of them looked travel weary, while she probably looked like a mange infected nug.

"There is village ahead that seem's to be suffering the effects of the fallen veil. Andruil wants to avoid it, but its road connects to the path that leads up into the mountains and to Tarasyl'an Te'las "

"Why not just go through it. Their just shem's" Lavellan said it before she could keep her snark to herself. It was becoming progressively harder not to mouth off,it was all she had left as a prisoner. Ghilan'nain removed the hood from her head and shook out her hair, the mass of brown curls falling around her face and gave Lavellan a complete look of disdain. This one would not humor her as Dirthamen did.

She spoke rapidly to Dirthamen in ancient elven, words flying too fast for Lavellan to even make out simple pronunciations. Ghilan'nain pointed at her and it didn't take much to figure out who she was talking about.

"She amuses me, and the more I read from her the more I learn about this new world we've walked into" He fell into the trade tongue purely for Lavellan benefit. It was a kind gesture until she realized the implications of his words were.

"You've been reading my mind this entire time?"She should have known better

"It was the path of less difficulty to understand how our world has changed" She supposed she'd have done the same thing if she'd the power. Lavellan remembered swiftly flipping through books or glancing over old scrolls to acquire the knowledge she needed for missions as Inquisitor. Her head now was full of useless information that she'd never need again, lovers notes, squabbling brothers, lost recipes , tombraiders journals. Dirthamen must have had to pick through an awful lot of nonsense. She shrugged

"I don't blame you, I suppose my throbbing head was your doing too"

"Naturally" He didn't even try to lie. "your head injury was taken care of before we left the shemlans camp, But the after effects of my magic were not foreseen, it's very curious your natural aversion to it " Ghilan'nain made a sound somewhere between disgust and impatience. Maybe she was still sour about the blow she'd been dealt. It had been nothing personal, just survival.

"your pet shem can wait Dirth,Falon is against me in this matter, he too wants to avoid the town but we've been in the open to long, we need a base before we are caught unprepared" Dirthamen seems to consider her words, hand resting under his chin in the universal gesture of contemplation. Why would they need to be so cautious? while so far they had not demonstrated any significant power other than Falon'din teleportation and Dirthamen's mind reading, she'd seen what they had been capable of on the battlefield, she'd seen them fly, so why now were they on foot. Lavellan was clearly missing something.

The sound of thunder and bright flashes of lightning lit up the sky in a electric purple hue. The distant shouts of fear and cries of distress was what made Lavellan hop to her feet.

"What exactly is going on?" She'd not tried to look before, but she could see the buildings that made up the houses and huts of the small village,open space that was undoubtedly used for farming had a small assortment of animals roaming . There was another crash of lightning, and Lavellan couldn't stand idlely there any longer, but her path was cut off before she even began to proceed, Falon'din materializing in front of her.

"The human town will be taken care of to make way for our passing" His unsettling pale eyes watched her lazily. She couldn't read anything from them a she matched his stare. His words irked her and as the sky above the town lit up again in that indigo glow.

"Iras ma Andruil?" Ghilan'nain asked for her but Lavellan knew the answer, even with Falon'din blank expression, cold as stone and just as unreadable. She tried to push past him, but he caught her by her shoulder and gave her a powerful shove. She ended up on her bottom , sitting in the dirt like some kind of petulant child.

Standing back up as quickly as she could , her breathing came fast in her anger.

"Let me go...you let that mad woman loose on those people, they don't deserve this" At that exact moment Lavellan understood truly how helpless she actually was..She'd thought that if it came down to it, she could escape, that she had at least that much skill to fight them off if they wanted her dead. But now she knew, she only lived because they will it. That was the power a god had. To be so strong that if they wanted to wipe out a village, a town, a city...they could without a second thought. Had Solas known that too, had he given up on her being alive until that moment in her dreams. The smell of smoke and fire caught on the wind, and she blamed the watering of her eyes on that.

"It was inevitable,the village needed to be culled...regardless of what they were before, they could not control their magic, and thus they've become neither spirit or human." Lavellan sank to her knee's his gaze following as she laid her forehead into the dirt and slammed her fist into it.

"Anduils does them a mercy, if you seek someone to blame, blame your Dread Wolf" Lavellan kept her face in the dirt, body shaking as her tears mixing into the earth, unable to accept more felt someone move past her still form,and then a familiar hand lay on her back in a comforting manner.

"Blood rushing, singing and flaring. To much noise, sky to bright. They try to help, but there are to many things to feel, too much pressure. I can feel it inside me changing, trying to curb the blood that's on fire, we are one now, blood is all we want" Cole's eyes seemed hollow when she looked up into them.

"The spirit's couldn't help the people, the fear changed them into abominations." Lavellan sniffled an unattractive line of muddy tears and snot covering her face. Cole wiped at her face like a good friend.

"A spirit?" Ghilan'nian asked both she and Falon'din turning to appraise Cole, the urge to protect him welled up inside Lavellan and she scrambled to put herself between him and the Evanuris.

"I am Cole" He made it his own purpose to reverse their positions, but his daggers still hung at his back hand at his side.

"But you are a spirit?" Dirthamen said having not moved from his place behind Lavellan. Cole didn't seemed to threatened by them. But if they attacked and killed him, she would never be able to forgive herself.

"I kept feeling a strange presence, but i never imagined a spirit with a soul" He stepped closer to Cole.

"You saw me a few time, but I made you forget...its easier now that theres nothing seperating me and the fade...i can do that...I can make them forget again Nerys" He seemed both happy and a little afraid of that revelation. She'd helped him forgive the original Cole's killer and in the process had made him more human, he'd lost some of his abilities, but now it seemed that they were resurfacing.

"How could a spirit make themselves real without a host body, without a soul to tether them?" Ghilan'nain seemed a little frantic. Lavellan suppose if she understood the mechanics of the fade and spirit possession she'd be just as shocked and awed by Cole as they were, but to her Cole had always been..just Cole.

Falon'din did not seemed impressed beyond the initial point.

"he is an affront to the laws of magic and a being should not exisit" Lavellan noticed the tightening grip on the shepherd's crook that he used as a staff.

"Blood lust rages, needs to quenched before it overcomes her, a huntress needs to hunt, and we need a path"Cole said and that stone face creased into a frown as his thoughts were spoken aloud. Lavellan looked up at Cole in confusion, but the words registered with Ghilan'nain well enough.

The slap was sharp and loud. An angry red handprint, small and perfect was forming on Falon'din's fair skin. Ghilan'nain had to lift her head slightly to look him in the eye.

Again Ghilan'nain spoke in that old language, the words coming angrier than those she spoke to Dirthamen about her. Their was so much passion behind the scold and Lavellan had no doubt that the stories about the Huntress and the Mother of Hallah were anything but lies.

even as she yelled, Falon'din showed no signs of emotion either way. DIrthamen edging forward to break up any fight that would erupt between them. They all hung on such a thing thread of alliance that it was no wonder Solas had to lock them up to stop them from fighting.

"Cole listen, this is important, you need to go to Skyhold and tell them that the Evanuris are coming, tell them to leave, take them to Halamshiral or Val Royeaux anywhere but there. And find Solas or one of his agents,tell him that…" She whispered to him ignoring Dirthamen who turned to watch.

"That your captures have no great power...they are missing their foci" Cole answered for her, nodding.

"And I need you to make me forget...make me forget about this conversation with you, about the eluvians and Morrigan and…. about Solas."Uncertainty was plain on his face. Dirthamen was approaching them, but he'd yet to read her mind, his eyes were to clear.

" Do they hurt you,I don't think I can if they don't hurt you" He said

"You have to do it now, or they'll find something in my head that will lead them to him. it might not be now, but they'll find it eventually, a piece I thought was insignificant but wasn't. And if they find him that would hurt more then when he left" She held his hands tightly and Cole seemed to understand.

"Do you want to forget everything?" He asked and that part of him that was human squeezed her real hand in comfort. She wondered if he thought about Maryden and how he would felt if something happened to her. LAvellan accept that comfort and closed her eyes just as Dirthamen came upon them.

"Not the good parts" She spoke just Dirthamen pushed them apart and again she ended up in the dirt on her butt. She landed with a soft "oof" And glared up at the Evanuris

"A bully just like your brother" She growled and stood, brushing at her pants with her hand as he turned in a circle searching for the spirit that was no longer there, taking only a split second for him to vanish, cloaking himself in the fade and fleeing.

"The spirit has fled" He called haulting the one sided argument that Ghilan'nain was engaged in with the stone wall that was Falon'din.

"He did something to her…" He got entirely to close to her, hands on either side of her skull and delved into her mind like before, a shout of discomfort escaping her mouth in surprise at the sudden intrusion. He pulled back just as quickly frowning.

"Where did the spirit go?" Ghila'nain frowned at them,she couldn't recall the last few minutes. She knew she'd been with Cole but then she couldn't recall where he could have gone in such a short span of time.

"I...I dont know"

"He's taken her mind" Ghila'nain with her large eyes looked ashen.

'Not her mind, her memories...but he didnt take them, they are forgotten." Dirthamen shook his head "it was not just those few moments he's erased. there are no significant memories of Fen'Harel that I can find in her head...they are all blanked in darkness"

"Then she is useless to us…" Falon'din grabbed her by her collar and lifted her a few inches from the ground, her toes dragging slightly in the dirt. Those pale pale blue eyes began to shimmer and she felt the pull of magic. dragging across her skin, inside it and to her felt like someone was pulling on her insides and trying to make them come outside.

"Falon wait...she can still be " Dirthamen said hurriedly.

"as bait, a source of knowledge, even if she doesn't remember, those memories are still there, just locked away by the had not the power to take them, simply mask them"His magic stopped and her insides stopped churning,her feet back on solid ground but his grip still holding her collar tight against her throat. Bringing his face close to hers, his tone was whisper low, but held the same weight of a promised threat.

"How lucky you are shemlan, but the moment you cease to be useful I'll walk your soul to the beyond myself gleefully" He let her go, and Lavellan knew she'd never forget that look of hatred in his eyes. She scowled at Falon'din's back as he

They found Andruil standing amongst the bodies of the deformed human's. She was breathing heavily, Strands of her auburn hair had come loose from its tight plait and she was covered in blood and ichor. She was completely still for a moment, staring at the ground with her bow,a bow that Lavellan had once called her own clutched in her fist. She'd received it as a gift from Kirkwalls ambassadors when she agreed to send aid to Kirkwall for restoration purposes. Where they had gotten it was beyond her.

Non of the bodies that lay on the ground looked remotely human.

She wondered how many small hamlets and villages were experiencing this exact terror. Were cities being overrun with the fearful civilians who, afraid of this new magic, succumb to possession and turned into these...things

"Vehnan" Ghila'nain cried going to Andruil and taking her blood coated hands in her own.

"Come we'll clean you off" She guided the other woman to a nearby well, but a strange look of concentration appeared. They spoke in hushed tone, speaking to themselves in their mother tongue as Ghilan'nain ladled water over Andruil's skin. She seemed to be shocked, a clear look of confusion on her face.

That confusion did not ebb Lavellans hatred for the woman. She'd hurt many before this incident. Lavellan had no doubt that Andruil would have gladly done the same thing with knowledge.

" have you ever had to kill a child shemlan?" Dirthamen was standing close watching the two other women while one cared for the other. It was an odd question, a sudden question, born of her angry thoughts that were probably loud and clear to him.

"Of course not" It was an automatic response but she thought back to all the men and women she'd killed fighting for the inquisition. While none had been children, surely there had been boys who could barely grow beards, or young women, even adolescent mages who simply fought to be free.

"Not small ones"

"magic manifest at all ages, fear and anger to the untrained is far more potent in the children. Andruil hunted abominations, kept them from destroying whole colonies, but never had there been a culling of an entire settlement"

"This is not the first and it will not be the last, the lives that are lost in this transition, they fall upon The dread wolf's shoulders" Falon'din cut through them his staff igniting the bodies that lay around them, ensuring that no wayward spirit would use the corpses the area was awash the brightglow of red , not only from the burning houses but from those that once inhabited them. Soon there would be nothing left of the small hamlet but blackened wood and a distinct unsettling feeling.

"The dread wolf?" Lavellan eyes knitted in confusion. She felt like she was missing half a conversation. Of course if the Evanuris was real then why not the Dread Wolf. But she'd seen no such creature at the falling of the veil. But once she started to think, she could not recall key points from the last few years, like someone had taken to blotting things out with ink.

Whole reasonings became questionable decisions. Why had she done that? What drove her to go here?What made her unable to stop the opening of the Veil when she so clearly knew it was going to happen. Most importantly, why had the Evanuris not killed her yet.

Her expression of bewilderment was clearly written on her face, Frustrated and angered Falon'din grabbed that face roughly between her fingers,intent on telling her what exactly she'd done to herself.

"Yes the dread wolf, or who you so dearly call Solas, you've wiped your memories of him so that we can't find him while he hides, licks his wounds, and prepares to destroy us…" He forced her face to watch the burning bodies.

"And he will go unpunished for his atrocities" The revelation was so strange to hear. A man she'd known for such a short time had loved for even a shorter time(still loved if she were being honest were being honest with herself) had been...no was the dread wolf. The memories she had of him were short and sweet, endearing if mysterious. Though an enigma, she'd never thought his demeanor nefarious. She'd done this to herself to keep him safe out of loyalty and affection, but looking at the burning bodies, she couldn't help the anger that welled up inside her chest. She turned her eyes to lock with the man who held her face, she let that anger show in the depth of them.

"retribution will be sought….but not from you" She slapped his hand away but did not move to leave. She stood, fixed at her spot, staring at the flames.

"it is a mounting list of people he has wronged, there may not be any left when we are done with him"

"He isn't the only one who will be punished for his actions" It was a promise, a vow that she intended to keep. No one here was free of guilt not even herself

Authornote: Sorry for the late,late,late update the holidays were hectic.


	5. Chapter 4

_Morning was mocking us_  
 _Blood hit the sky_  
 _I was just happy, my manic and I_

Chapter 4

-o-

He hated her, hated everything that she stood for,everything she represented, but even as he hated her he loved that tenacity that would not die in the face of her current circumstance. She was horribly impolite and forthright, traits that would not have been appropriate in the time of Arlathan and before. She was sardonic and sometime openly contemptuous of them, at times he could swear that she would give him a look or sneer that mimicked the Dread Wolf's.

They'd taken turns watching her, keeping her under guard in case she decided to make another run for her freedom. Though highly unlikely, her escape attempt would be doubly low now that they were in the mountain paths. They'd seen snow since they cut through what was now called the Emprise Du Lion, the remains of the red colored lyrium drew spirits there in droves and they had to make a conscious effort to steer clear of the small populated villages. While the path would have been the quickest way to the stronghold, Ghilan'nain had not accounted for the weather that had snow falling in continuous heaps around them. While it did not truly have an impact on him and the others, it was their prisoner and the travel weary halla that caused them to slow significantly.

They'd stopped for the first time since the village, setting up a poor excuse for a camp. With no cover to ward off the gently falling snow it was proving to be a miserable night, even with the domed barrier that Ghilan'nain and Andruil had drawn around them to keep the worse of the weather away.

Dirthamen stared at the elvhen woman while she slept,curled in on herself, her prosthetic arm tucked against her chest protectively trying to keep warm. She'd fallen half asleep atop the halla, swaying dangerously and had simply closed her eyes and laid down when the fire had be lit. At times he would notice a twitch in that shoulder, a strange tremor that ran through her whole body and he wondered if whatever remained of Fen'Harel's anchor still tortured her.

He'd been inside her mind. he'd viewed memories of her younger years and memories insignificant to their present problems more times then he would have admitted to the others .While It had proved difficult at first, either from her innate aversion to intrusive magic or the years of being neglected while he'd been trapped, Dirthamen eventually managed to slip in and out of her head without so much as a slight headache.

Fortunately no one had noticed his fascination with the quickling elf on the road, they'd all been too absorbed in their own feelings and selfish attitudes as per usual. It was a wonder that they were able to ally together at all, But for all their disregard it seemed that at least one noticed his lingering glances as their group huddled around the circle of warmth given off by the camp fire.

"You've taken a liking to our prisoner Dirth?" Andruil asked quietly in their mother episode of bloodlust seemingly a forgotten part of the day's event. Andruil would not speak of it, so it would be rude of any of the others to bring it had been that very vice that had driven the huntress into the beyond and near madness,She'd destroyed her own temples, plagued her own people when she'd returned. Luckily none knew the path anymore. let those there be Forgotten. It was a questionable decision on both her and Falon'din part to let her get so carried away.

"Only mildly" He looked at the Huntress bundled in her layers of fur, Ghilan'nain smaller frame tucked in by her side, shareing heat. They'd salvaged a few things on their journey blankets and food and things that Nerys could not make for herself as they could. And while they did not feel the cold as she did, the fire's warmth was a welcome aversion to the bite of the Frostbacks. Magic could do a great many things, But sometimes having the physical aspect could be an important building block.

"More than mildly one would say" He found himself looking at Lavellan's sleeping face again. How could he explained to Andruil that it was the woman's life he had become enthralled in. Those pieces of herself that explained these dalish elves, that told more about their people that any written text could.

It had been one thing to see the state in which the people had fallen too, and another entirely to experience through their own eyes and thoughts. He remembered, or rather he saw in her memories a chubby infant running barefoot through the glade, chasing rabbits and frogs, he felt her fear as her father protected her from a startled mother bear, and wet tears when he explained why he had to kill the cubs that would not survive without the adult. He recalled the love she felt for her mother and the songs that were song to her, the grief and feelings of betrayal when her mother took a fever that would not break..

He turned away from her, his own grief surfacing as he thumbed the parchment that his father had given Lavellan before he'd slipped into his eternal sleep.

He'd not said much to his father in over six thousand years before Fen'harel then neither had taken the chances to speak to the other, his father's anger and Dirthamen spite being too great to bridge the gap. He'd chosen rather to sleep away their sentence. He had not be the only one who had thought slipping into Uthenera was the most logical decision. Ghilan'nain , Sylaise , June, and Andruil had slumbered to, but Sylaise and June had never woken up.

They had chosen to fade, hands held fast together.

Elgar'nan, his father, had remained awake all those years searching, either for a way to escape or for his lost love's spirit he''d never know.

He pressed the paper firmly, anger making him want to tear it to shreds. He was envious of her, he knew now. Her family, her life, what would he have given to have that even if it meant to become a shemlan. Would a short life with the love of family and freedom be worth his godhood?

He looked up and he locked eyes with the man who shared the other half of his soul.

"They live interesting lives,so short...yet they experience so much in that time" His words were for Andruil but he was involved in a stare down with his twin soul. Sometimes Dirthamen would think he made a mistake binding souls with Falon'din, and other times he could not fathom how he could live without him. That very bond had saved his life more than once, but that same bond and dragged him down to ruin. He would have never been involved with that conflict that had killed Mythal, had it not been for Falon.

Dirthamen looked away first. Falon'din eyes like ice; cold,pale and still as stone.

"what does Elgar'nan say in the note " Andruil picked at a sliver of dried meat they'd taken from one of the Emprise 'du Lion's towns, succumbing to the the pains of hunger no matter how unappetizing the human food 'd swiped it from Lavellan as she slept, a letter that had not been meant for him, rude and punishable, but breaking courtesy didn't seem like such a big concern when everyone they'd known, those who'd worshipped them were dead and dust by now.

Andruil's inquiry was not idle Dirthamen knew what she truly wanted to wanted the answer to the question that he himself was wondering about. If in the end had Elgar'nan known that they had been the ones who murdered Mythal, had he suspected that it was not the Dread wolf who'd betrayed his trust in the end?

"He talks to Fen'harel and Falon…" He let the letter sit in his palm and willed it to go to the taller man ,avoiding the flames and fluttering until Falon reached out to grab it. He didn't know what he expected the letter to say. Elgar'nan had never been happy at his sons ascension to Evanuris. Dirthamens skills were dubious at best in his early years, mediocre ,but never outstanding. That doubt was why Elgar'nan had fostered the talented Falon'din instead. No matter blood, if you were not worthy to be taught it was a waste for an experienced Elder to spend time teaching someone with no talent.

His father had never believed in him, but for good reason. He'd not be a Evanuris without Falon'din.

" It has been near seven millenniums since the sinner, had he still not forgiven you? " Andruil flicked a piece of dried meat into the fire, disgust clearly written on her face. Dirthamen mirrored that looked in her direction.

"The sinner was not my fault Andruil, as you well know...that whole incident was constructed by you and your insane bloodlust" Andruil had so dearly wanted to hunt dragons. They'd been a mystery for so long, some had said Mythal had constructed them herself, others said that she'd been born from them. Either way they'd been sacred to her and were not to be harmed as decreed when Elgar'nan and she became Evanuris together. Andruil had dragged several of them into her scheme to hunt one. It was a grudge that had started one of the many conflicts between them,one that Dirthamen would maintain he was completely justified in initiating.

"You even got Ghilan'nain involved" His tone was mildly irritated. Andruil often made the most ill thought discesions. But like Falon'din she could be so very indifferent to consequences after the fact.

"I merely said in passing that if I could hunt a beast such as a great dragon,I would feel joy that would last me for the rest of my life, if Ghilan'nain heard that and sought to please me it's not either of our faults. If your disciples weren't so disregarding of status and rules she'd never been able to convince him to do so."

"Pa'ner pined for her, you knew this, she knew this. he would have done anything for her favor. You both used that against was dispicable" He narrowed his eyes and there was a heavy tension around them. He'd not noticed Ghilan'nain had awoken. Her still form resting against Andruil's arm almost completely hidden under the furs, her eyes open looking not at him but into the fire, carefully avoiding his gaze. She was ashamed. at least one of them were.

"It is the past now" Andruil waved dismissively in the air as if clearing it away. Dirthamen could have exploded but It would have done no good to argue her or draw her into a fit. His pain and regret would remain his she said..it was past.

Falon'din had disregarded the entire exchange in silence, eyes shifting across the words on the paper, the only indication of his feelings was a small sigh that escaped.

" _You do not agree with his words?_ " He reached into Falon's mind as easily as plunging a hand into sun warmed water.

" _He ask that me and Fen'harel make peace, that we are to lead our people into a new age without war, without conflict, such a idea is inconceivable_ "

" _Is it too much to ask, for the sake of the Elvhen? to rebuild what we once were_ "

" _Their would never be peace between me and Fen'harel, not while he knows that it was I that slew Mythal, not while he would refuse me my followers_ " There was an empty silence in his mind that was a signal that the matter was closed to any more discussion for now.

It was always a strange feeling of loneliness when Falon'din blocked their connection. He always felt him in his mind like a constant reassuring pressure. Without him he felt severed at times.

He looked back down at Lavellan, she'd not stirred the entire time, the journey mostly likely being more exhausting to her then to them. He hated Fen'harel just as much as the other did. being trapped away to wither and die could stoke any soft heart with vengeance,but this was not about hate, not about revenge. These children, these quicklings had held on despite everything trying desperately to snuff them out. Did the modern elvhen not deserve the chance to live how they were truly meant to live? Could Falon'din not put aside his stubborn pride to fulfill Elgar'nan's last wish?

Maybe it was is duty as a son to do so?

"Tell me about the day your father killed the bear?"

They'd been on the path for a few hours after dawn at this point. While the women talked back and forth in ancient elvhen and Falon'din continued to be determined to not speak with him about Elgar'nan's final wish ,Dirthamen could no longer stand the silence between him and the woman who jaunted along on the back of the halla.

Those green-gold eyes of hers rolled to look up at him, lips thinning.

"You really need to stay out of my head" She said at first eyes going back to focus on the road ahead. "Why do you want me to tell you?you saw it in my head, you know everything about it already" That was true. She'd been little more then five cycles old when it had would recall it exactly as he'd seen it in her mind.

"Indulge me please" He asked and he suppose it was because either she too was sick of the silence or because he'd been relatively kind to her compared to the others.

"Fine, but no more peeking inside my head, just ask me and I'll tell you" She demanded. It was a reasonable enough request, one that he could oblige even for a shemlan. He nodded.

There was a small pause as she tried to recall the event."I think it was maybe the first thaw of the spring, we were cutting through the Wildvale to get to the Palanasene forest I think, I used to collect all sorts of shells there and my mother would make necklaces she'd trade with the human's when they'd come to sale. anyway...My father was going hunting and I begged him to let me come with him, that I wouldn't spook the game and that I wanted to watch him hunt...it was completely irresponsible for him to take me now that I think about it, I'm surprised the Keeper wasn't more furious, when we returned, now that I think about it" She looked up to the sky as she spoke, most likely reaching back to those memories. It had been something so prominent in her life that it had been in the forefront when he'd gone through her head.

"The clearing we went to was filled with blackberries and my dad sat me down at the base of the tree he was perched in" He could see the glade as she saw it, all emerald green grass and tall tree's, bushes speckled with the treat that she'd been enticed by. The bear cubs, startled by her presence,curious about the child before them, face smeared purple from the berries.

" I remember my father yelling and then this huge brown bear raising up from behind the bushes. I'd been so scared I couldn't move" He had been an exceptional hunter,striking the bear with arrow from afar,leading it away and beyond her sight into the thicket.

He returned bloodied and limping, blood flowing from a gash on his head into his eye. She thought he was dying then.

"He had to kill the cubs, without their mother they would have starved or killed by wolves. I didn't understand it then, but it was a mercy…"

"I think it shaped me in a way, I felt that I owed those lives retribution, if I could..." She fell silent then and if Dirthamen had not been one for details he would have missed the coloring on her cheeks.

"You thought you owed the lives to me?" He accused and a small bubble of pride welled up in his chest. He knew that she wore his mark's before Fen'harel removed them, but had no idea that the decision had been made with the idea of repaying a debt such as that.

"I'd always been told that the bear was sacred to you!" She near yelled, the red coloring her skin to a rich umber.

Hunters were so often Andruil's. Non with battle skills were ever pledged to him. He was a keeper of knowledge, he minded the Library's ,shared the secrets of magic to those who wished to learn, documented those secrets that he could find in others minds.

"So...you would have been mine" He didn't stop himself from reaching out and tracing the path of his vallaslin from forehead to cheek, the magic of phantom ink nearly invisible, faded away but still there,still apart of her, just like the anchor. He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip,letting it fall to her chin where the blood writing would stop if they were still there.

Her mind was racing with thoughts. His touches were to intimate, he was to close, how dare he. The thought of being controlled like Andruil had controlled the dalish hunter frightened her, she would not have abide by that.

"Ir revas"

"Yes you are" He let her go and she took the moment to click her tongue, hurrying the halla forward and away from from him. He could have kicked himself for his actions. There were so many things wrong with what he'd just done. To much time spent in her head and he was beginning to think like a shemlan.

But he couldn't help but think about how lucky he would have been to gain such a person as a disciple. If she'd been born in a different era, fostered properly, trained up under a suitable elder, she could have risen high.

He watched her fall into step a little ways away from Andruil and Ghilan'nain. Both surprised by her sudden presence, Ghilan'nain turned to give him a questioning look, but he betrayed nothing, his face falling into stoic stone that would have rivaled Falon'din's.

The group had lapsed back into a long silence , Lavellan traveling alongside the women while he brought up the rear. "Let the halla rest for a moment, this altitude combined with carrying me can't be good for her" Lavellan had gotten off the creature, sinking into the snow to just above her knee's, the beast was panting softly, pawing at the snow. Ghilan'nain gave an appreciative look that none but him saw, her brown hand contrasting starkly with the white halla as she stroked it's neck

" stopping again?" Andruil scoffed.

"I can walk just fine"

"You're too slow! Tarasyl'an Te'las is not far, the beast will hold" Andruil caught the look Ghilan'nains shot her and returned it with a stubborn fold of her arms.

"Can't you just fly me there" Lavellan said smartly, he watched her hand brush against the halla in comfort and then jolt away when it connected with Ghilan'nain's. It was a request that spoke volumes of Lavellan understanding of the world, of how this new world worked.

" When you speak I am reminded of how ignorant you are shemlan" She didn't know any better, but that was not excuse enough for the Huntress. Flying was not the issue, the issue was taking her with them. She was too rooted in her physical form, to solid. If they'd had their foci, they could have done the complicated magic of altering her state of being themselves with terrible ease.

But they did not have their foci.

They were probably long lost now.

"unless you have a different plan Mother of Hares, I'll be walking the rest of the way home, we don't ride our Halla anyway" The four of them watched as the small woman took high stepped strides through the snow, pushing her way through it as best she could. She'd moved a yard or two forward before Falon'din grew irritated enough to interfere.

"This is ridiculous" Falon'din motioned for them to follow them forward, Ghilan'nain guiding the creature forward, her face contorted into one that was trying not to laugh. A snicker escaped when a startled yelped signaled Lavellan's fall into a deceptively shallow drop in snow.

Falon'din was there fishing her from the snow , hand gripping her forearm and hoisting her up with ease. With one easy motion he slung her over his shoulder, holding her like he would have held a large sack. Lavellan's dignity couldn't take it.

"Put me down!" She shouted in outrage. When Falon'din did not heed her request she resorted to thrashing. Hitting his back with clenched fist and kicking out her legs. One foot connected with his jaw and Dirthamen heard a mirthful "ouch" come from Andruil.

Dirthamen could see the angry look that ghosted over Falon'din's face and then they both vanished. Falon'din stepping into the fade.

They appeared several feet to the left, Lavellan's thrashing continuing chaotically. Again they vanished, this time ahead of them and Lavellan had begun to slip backwards, Falon'din struggling to keep her steady.

"Will you ceas-" Gone again, appearing further away than took off at a sprint towards them,eyes gleaming with laughter.

"PUT ME DOWN!" They were not insight, but Lavellan's angry yell drew them to their location. lower on a flat rise that looked out onto the other peaks. Falon'din looked disheveled but not as much as the woman who was slumped in front of him, held up by hand under her arms. He looked decidedly furious. A furious Falon'din was never a good Falon'din.

Taking Lavellan by the back of her collar, he drug the woman through the snow towards the edge, where the mountain path ended by a cliffside. Lavellan sputtered into the snow screaming obscenities and in one great heave Falon'din sent her flying into the air and off the side of the cliff.

Dirthamen and Ghilan'nain both shouted in unison

"Falon!" They watched her fall through the air screaming, while Andruil laughed and Falon looked exceedingly pleased with himself.

" _Falon...you cannot mean to kill her because she did not want to be handled like a sack of feed_ " Falon'din looked to him from across the snow when Dirthamens words reached out to him, of course he was not going to let his emotions get the better of him. He let her scream just a little bit longer and then blinked from his location to where Nerys landed in his outstretched arms with only a dip in his knee to signal the force in which she landed.

She was still for a total of five seconds before she pushed away from him, succeeding only in being dropped into the snow.

"How did you like flying shemlan?" Andruil asked when Falon'din brought them back onto the path. Teeth clacking together from the snow melting in her hair,shirt, and boots Lavellan shot an angry look at her, but Andruil was to amused to let the look bother her.

"I'd prefer my feet on the ground thank you very much" She quipped wrapping her arms around herself and shivered severely. Andruil touched her head with the palm of her hand as she walked past her and her shivering stopped almost instantly. Surprised Lavellan turned after the taller woman.

"Thank y-" But Andruil waved her hand dismissively at the display of gratitude. Ghila'nain also touched Lavellan's arm slightly in a sign of comfort as she passed by with the halla's reins in hand. There were no words exchanged, Lavellan looking after them in confusion as Dirthamen stood beside her.

"Did I miss something?"She asked shaking the remains of the melting snow from her shirt.

"Ghila'nain does not like senseless violence and Andruil finds you amusing"He bent down, placing one knee into the snow and while she was distracted he scooped her at her waist and stood with her balancing on his shoulder.

"wha…!" She stiffened placing a hand on his opposite shoulder to stable herself as his hand slid from her waist to just above her knee, keeping her steady.

"Tell me if you are not comfortable" He looked up, her face coloring the same it had done when he'd touched her face.

"No..no this is fine" They both averted their eyes and looked straight ahead. It took much restraint to keep from sneaking into her thoughts. But he'd made a promise that he would not do so and he sought to honor it.

Maybe Andruil was right, he'd taken more than a mild liking to the woman upon his shoulders. Looking forward he caught the small pull of a smile on Falon'din profile and realized he may not have been the only one to share those feelings.


End file.
